


Talia Awakened

by Chrysalin



Category: Original Work, Sleeping Beauty (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Retellings, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 01:26:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19121794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrysalin/pseuds/Chrysalin
Summary: Princess Talia roused from her century-long slumber, but everything's changed. She has children, and a man claiming to be her husband. What can she do?





	Talia Awakened

**Author's Note:**

> This was born of a very simple prompt for my writing class many years ago - to retell a story from the oral tradition. I started out with a Twelve Dancing Princesses piece, but it wasn't gelling. Flipping through my textbook, I kind of stopped over the Sleeping Beauty section and knew that was the story. My classmates all came back with a couple pages. I came in with this whopper (slightly shorter then, since I could not for the life of me figure out the ending) and got loads of compliments. It remains one of my favorite pieces to this day.

The world had changed when she woke. Her castle was the same, and the people it had sheltered for the century she slept, but the land was different. The most striking alteration was to herself. She, of all the residents, had awakened as something new. She’d found children in her arms. They were hers, if the pains in her body were any indication; she had no idea how. Talia was badly weakened by her labor, but she managed to draw the twins close and feed them. The princess carefully laid them against her pillows once they’d taken their fill. It took extreme effort to stand, and more to cross her room to the wardrobe. She struggled into a nightgown – the only piece of clothing she could don unaided. She had already realized the gown she’d worn before the curse took effect was on the floor. 

The door burst open a few minutes later and her parents flew into the chamber. Her father caught her in a hug but her mother hung back, shocked by the infants on the bed. Talia clung to the king, depending on him to keep her upright. Melech ran his hand down her long dark hair, smoothing it and quietly convincing himself that his daughter was all right. The last time he saw her was right after her curse was triggered, and he needed to believe it was over.

Queen Leda slowly walked to the bed, lifting one of the children – a boy, Talia realized. The other was a girl. “My dear, what happened? Where did these babies come from?”

“I – I don’t know,” Talia replied. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “They’re mine. They were there when I woke up.”

The king pulled back so he could see his daughter’s face. “What do you mean?” he asked. 

“I think someone was here,” the princess said. “A man, while all of us slept.”

“How perfectly dreadful,” the queen murmured. “Oh, sweetheart, you can barely stand. Here, sit. Your father and I will go find a nurse for the children.”

“You aren’t angry?”

Melech shook his head. “The only thing that matters is your safety, Talia. Besides, we struggled for years to have a child. We do not begrudge an addition to the family.” He half-carried his daughter to the window seat; her room was high enough that such luxuries could be permitted without compromising the castle’s defenses. He took his granddaughter while his wife held their grandson. With a last kind look at the frightened princess, they slipped out. 

“I really did try to save you.”

Talia was shocked and a little fearful when she heard the disembodied voice, but her muscles were unwilling to obey and all she could do was gasp. Golden sparks came through the window, drifting to the center of the room and coalescing into a female shape. She was tall and slim, with almost too-pale skin and a black braid hanging to the backs of her knees. Her gown was simplistic, saved from plainness by its fine purple silk. Thin, gauzy wings fluttered behind her. They and her ageless black eyes were the only things that marked her as inhuman.

“Are you the fairy that cursed me?” Talia asked. Her fear faded when she saw the figure, though she couldn’t say why. 

“I never cursed you, though I wish for your sake my plan had succeeded.”

“You wish I had died?! The last fairy is the only reason I am still alive!”

“My dear, I never intended your death. I wanted to save you by pretending to set a curse, hoping it would frighten away those who might wish you harm. I did not realize there was one fairy with a gift left to give. If not for the others, none of this would have been necessary. But no, they had to give you all of those foolish gifts. Beauty, grace, music – they would have suited a performer more than a girl who would one day inherit a kingdom. The only one I do not wish to shake silly is the one who gave you wits, which may yet save you. Even the last one – she never stopped to see if I had done as I said.”

“What do you mean?” Talia didn’t understand her curiosity. The fairy had by all accounts sentenced an infant to death, and no explanations should be able to sway her opinion. If there had been no curse, her final gift had been the true one despite everything she had ever known. Still, she knew without being able to say how that the interloper was telling the absolute truth. “Save me from what?”

“I am sorry to say that you will find out, but I will not leave you bereft of hope. I will give you your seventh gift. You may call me to your aid, but only if your need is great and only once. I cannot guarantee I will come after that. All you have to do is say ‘Deirdre’.”

“Deirdre?”

The fairy nodded. “My name. I have not told a human what I am called in more years than you can imagine, so I will know it is you. Again, though, take care. I do not do this lightly.”

Deirdre faded from sight, leaving as she had come. Talia rubbed her face with both hands, hoping for clarity. She had long known the story of her christening day and had been warned to keep away from the spindle foretold to begin the curse. She wished she hadn’t been foolish enough to go looking for one when her parents left to visit a series of far-flung villages. The man who found her had to have been the son of a king, that much she knew from the last fairy’s counterspell. In that case he was likely the father of the twins. 

There was a gentle knock at the door and Talia pulled herself from her musings. “Come in,” she called. 

The thick oak panel swung open and Talia’s old nurse bustled in. Chiding, Amma helped the princess out of her nightclothes as servants brought up a bath. As the young woman washed, others took the ruined linens and replaced them with new ones. Food was brought to help rebuild the new mother’s strength. Amma was braiding her damp hair when a final helper came in with a large cradle and set it beside the bed. 

“The babes have a wet nurse for the night; you’re too tired to deal with them just yet. After that you’ll want to give them as much attention as you can. Have you chosen names?”

“Yes,” Talia said distantly. “James for my son and Aurora for my daughter.”

“How lovely; it’s wonderful to have children around again. Now let’s get you to bed.”

“I don’t think I could possibly sleep. I don’t know what happened to me while I was under the curse; I fear waking up and finding myself changed again.”

The nurse tutted as she helped her charge into bed and tucked her in. “Just sleep, dearie. A guard will be at your door all night, so you have nothing to worry about.”

* * *

Days passed, then weeks. Talia began to settle into her new life, caring for her children and joining her parents as they began the arduous task of bringing the kingdom to order. A hundred years was a long time, but her parents had had the foresight to task several court nobles with ruling after the curse began. The precautions minimized the damages. The last fairy had given them time for that before sending them into sleep beside her. 

Her father’s majordomo hurried to King Melech, red-faced and panting. The princess and queen looked up from the latest crop reports. He bowed before speaking. “Your Majesties, a representative of a nearby kingdom is here. He wants to see Princess Talia.”

Melech frowned. “What business can a stranger have with my daughter?”

“His name is Prince Archer. He says he was here almost a year ago and they met.”

Talia shook her head, frustrated. She had been asleep; her awakening was only a month past. “I do not know the name and cannot know the man. I was still cursed.”

“That is what I told him, but he is most insistent.”

“Show him in,” the king ordered. “We will get to the bottom of this quickly enough.”

The man who stepped in was the epitome of royalty. His steps were quick and confident. His clothing was fine, if differently styled than anything Talia knew. He was tall and lean, built like the archer he was named for, and indeed he had a bow and quiver of arrows at his back. He had a handsome enough face, but nothing special. He did not bow to the king; Talia supposed customs had changed with fashion and a foreigner might not bow to another sovereign. 

“Oh good, you’re here.” Talia disliked his voice at once. It was filled with arrogance and superiority, as if she and her family were somehow beneath him. “I won’t waste your time, sire. I’m only here for my wife.”

“Wife?!” Leda repeated, shocked. “You cannot mean my Talia!”

“Of course,” he said easily. “We were wed when I was last here. The children are mine as well. I’m in a bit of a hurry, so if we could go quickly that’d be best.”

Talia shot to her feet. “How can I be your wife if I do not know you?!” she demanded. “What claim can you have on my children or I?!”

“Talia, manners,” her mother scolded. “Melech?”

The elderly king got to his feet. “You ask a great deal of me, Prince Archer. I do not know you, yet you claim to be my son-in-law and the father of Talia’s twins. You expect me to let them leave with you when I have no idea where you are from or what you can give them.”

“I’m a prince,” Archer said coldly, “and I haven’t slept away the years. I’m better equipped to care for them than you are.”

Talia struggled with her anger before smiling prettily. “May I have a moment with my parents, Prince Archer?” He shrugged and stalked out. As soon as he was gone she turned to the king and queen. “You cannot expect me to go with this man. I do not trust him.”

Leda hesitated, torn. “If what he says is true and you are wed, there is little we can do.”

“How can I be married to a man I do not know? Mother, please!”

Melech summoned the majordomo back. “Was the prince accompanied by members of his father’s court?”

“Yes, Majesty. There is a duke and five knights in his entourage. I gather from their apparel and weaponry that they were hunting before their arrival or will be after they leave.”

“Thank you; you may go.” The servant left quietly as the king turned back to his little family. “I am very sorry to say it, Talia, but there may be nothing I can do. Your word will count for little with the prince’s father when you have the children to support his son’s claims. The only comfort I can offer is that as my only heir you will be needed here. That and the babes’ requirements will keep him from taking you away at once. I will extend our hospitality to him and we can decide what to do in a more leisurely fashion.”

The princess swallowed hard before nodding. “As you wish, Father.”

She frowned at Prince Archer through the fine supper her father ordered to greet him. His manners changed when he was asked to stay until arrangements could be made, and now the foreigner was polite and charming. Talia, remembering Deirdre’s warning, was not convinced of his sincerity. The only thing she believed was that he had fathered the twins, and if that were the case he had despoiled her as she slept. It was enough to ensure she never trusted him. 

She wanted her fears to prove unfounded, but she quickly discovered that her fairy gift of wits had not failed her. Not long after she retired, Archer summarily dismissed her guard and servants and forced himself on her, claiming it was his marital right. Talia gritted her teeth and stayed quiet, determined not to wake the children or involve anyone else in her troubles. The curse had been triggered by her own idiocy, and she would be the one to resolve its aftereffects. She cried silently after he fell asleep. The sky was just beginning to lighten as she cleaned herself up, gathered the twins in her arms and slipped from the room. 

Head held high, the princess descended to the servants’ quarters and woke Amma. The babies settled in easily, and the old woman promised to take them to the wet nurse if they needed fed. Talia gave them one last kiss before proceeding to her parents’ suite. 

Her mother was horrified when Talia explained what had been done, and her father was ready to skewer the prince in his sleep. She insisted on their discretion, though, and they believed in their child enough to do as she asked. A missive was sent to King Laurence, Archer’s father, inviting him to the babies’ baptism and to confirm her son in the line of succession. Aurora would stand to inherit after Talia. Archer himself remained uninformed, and Talia continued to suffer in silence. If she wept herself hoarse once she was alone, no one needed to know but her. 

King Laurence arrived three days later, much to his son’s surprise. Archer was nervous as he introduced his father to King Melech and Queen Leda. Talia presented herself to her supposed father-in-law, demonstrating all the fine qualities her fairy blessings and royal upbringing could supply. He found her sweet and charming, and a contract was drawn up by the kings dictating the twins’ inheritance and their roles in the kingdoms. Talia had been hesitant to plan beyond that, but the gentle way the foreign king treated her babes eased her fears and she decided to continue. 

She stood atop the tallest tower that night and spoke into the darkness: “Deirdre.”

“I was wondering when you would call.”

Talia spun, again caught off-guard by the fairy. She had expected another show, not a silent approach. “You said if I called you would help me. What I need may be too much to ask.”

“That is for me to decide. Tell me, Princess Talia. What is it you require?”

The princess took a deep breath and spoke. “I want you to get rid of Prince Archer. A long sleep, a death spell – that is up to you. I need it to be as separate from my family and I as possible. You are the one remembered for cursing me, so you would not be considered an ally.”

“That is indeed quite a burden. What will it accomplish if I do as you say?”

“It will ensure the safety of two kingdoms. Archer cannot be trusted to rule; he is selfish and has no care for the suffering of others. He will bring his land and mine to war if I spurn him, and he will ruin everything my father and his have accomplished if I do not.”

“You do not mention the abuse you suffer at his hands?”

Talia lifted her chin defiantly. “I can take care of myself, but there is nothing a woman can say to keep King Laurence from avenging his son with our blood if one of us was to kill him. I need your help for the good of many, not just for me.”

Deirdre nodded. “Your plan is clever. You don’t care what fate befalls the twins’ father?”

“I have no heart for death. I would prefer him to live, but only if you can ensure that he does not return to his ways when the curse lifts. That is why I am relying on your judgment. I must be seen as uninvolved to ensure the survival of the kingdoms.”

“I foresaw your pain, Talia; I did not anticipate your courage.” Deirdre vanished without warning, and a ghostly agreement floated to the princess on the wind. She took heart and returned to her chambers. Archer, in the deep sleep of drunkenness, had never noticed her absence. She fed the children and fell asleep holding them. 

* * *

“I am sorry for your loss, Majesty,” Talia murmured as she knelt before King Laurence the picture of an obedient daughter-in-law. A week had passed since she’d seen Deirdre, and the princess had begun to fear that the task would go uncompleted. It did not, and that morning Talia had been unable to rouse the prince from a deep slumber. The entire court proved unsuccessful and Archer remained unconscious, adrift in the cursed dreams Talia knew so well. 

“You are called the Sleeping Beauty,” the king said in his gentle voice. “What hope is there for my son? Will true love’s kiss work?”

“Alas, my curse was broken by the passage of time. I do not know how it came upon him or what will be its undoing.” Talia hesitated. “Sire, what happened to Archer’s mother? Did you love her?”

“You mean Anne?” Laurence blinked, surprised. “She was the light of my life; it broke my heart when she died. Anne was pregnant, you know. Archer was about sixteen and we thought he would be our only child. One day she just collapsed. I lost her and the baby both.”

“I apologize; I did not mean to upset you.”

He waved one hand. “No need, Princess. I appreciate your kindness.”

“Archer never saw you… angry with her?” Talia asked delicately.

Now the king frowned. “Anne and I had our fights; all couples do. What do you mean?”

The princess pressed on, determined. “He never saw you hit her or anything of the sort?”

Laurence got to his feet, eyes flashing as his temper mounted. “I would never have struck my wife. Why would you assume something so terrible of me?”

 

Talia stood as well. “I am trying to understand where your son was taught to do this.” She dropped her shawl, baring the livid bruises across her arms and shoulders. Tilting her head to one side, her hair swung away to reveal a distinctive bite mark on her neck. “I only wished to know where he learned it from.”

It was like all the air had been sucked from the king. He sagged back in his seat, shocked. “Archer did that to you?!”

“Yes. These are from last night, before the curse took him.”

Laurence shook his head, still trying to understand. “I am sorry for your suffering, Princess Talia. I will look for answers, but since I never did such a thing I do not know if I will find out what happened to Archer.”

“It is your right to be at least partially responsible for my son’s upbringing. We can try to reach some sort of agreement.”

“No.” The king was tired, and the word was almost a sigh. “I cannot be trusted with the care of your child until I learn what I should have done differently with mine. He is better off with you; I know you will raise him well.”

“Thank you, sire.” He stood to go, but Talia spoke up just before he reached the door. “I am sorry it had to end like this.”

King Laurence turned and gave her one last smile. It was an old man’s smile, world-weary and burdened with uncomfortable knowledge. “I appreciate it. You will be a wonderful queen, Talia. I wish you only the best.”

* * *

She dreamt of him over the years. They would be in the churning sea of the curse, far from anything that might be able to help. He would always demand her aid, expecting Talia’s obedience to his wishes as he had expected everything else from her. She would do nothing but watch as the waters swept him away, knowing this was Deirdre’s way of letting her see if the prince could be saved. She rather thought he would never make the choices necessary to be set free, and her rare correspondences with his unhappy father had led to reports that, unlike her ageless sleep, Archer’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. The court healers doubted he would last more than another year or two. 

Talia sometimes struggled with her role in his curse. Deirdre, on her rare visits, would assure her that she had done what was necessary to protect countless lives, but it was a heavy burden to bear when she had to tell her now teenaged children they would probably not see their father awake. Her parents, already elderly, had passed away when the twins turned ten. King Laurence was fading himself, too old to cope with the struggles of running a kingdom and watching his son’s slow death. James would not have to wait much longer to be king, but Talia contented herself with the knowledge that Laurence’s palace was not too far removed from her own and she would be able to see her son often. 

They had grown so much. James shared much of his father’s look and skill with a bow, but he had inherited his grandfather’s kind joviality and was blessed with an unusual knack for the bookkeeping and stratagems needed to keep a kingdom’s coffers full and its people provided for. His twin was fine boned and dark haired like her mother. There was no inhuman beauty to be found there, since Talia hadn’t allowed fairy gifts, but she was not particularly plain or ugly either. While her brother was good with numbers, Aurora was a born diplomat capable of defusing a tense situation in seconds. She would be accompanying her brother to his new home soon to help pave the way for him to ascend to the throne and would stay until he had settled into his rule. Neither had yet showed an interest in marriage, and part of it was because their mother had not married either. Talia had her children to inherit after her death and her experiences had left her with no desire for a husband. With a strong alliance already formed by her ties to Laurence, she knew enough to rule alone. 

Despite their expectations, Archer lingered for another year, then five, then ten. The twins were thirty when the last dream finally came. For the first time, there was desperation marring his fine features when Talia appeared. 

“Please,” he begged. “Help me.”

“There is nothing I can do,” she explained with the gentle grace she had finally cultivated after years of rage and pain. It was honest, too; Archer was the only one who could do anything. If he was still trapped in the curse, it was because even fear had not convinced him to change. He would play at it if it helped him, but he did not feel it. “Time has run out.”

As she’d predicted, the fear immediately turned to anger. He reached for her arm, vicious intent in his eyes, but the currents immediately pulled them apart. “This is your doing!” he raged. “YOU DID THIS TO ME!”

“You brought this upon yourself. None of it would have been necessary if you had been the kind of man you should have wanted to be, but you made no effort to be something more than a pampered prince.”

“Like you were the spoiled princess?” he sneered. “When did you ever deserve the good things brought your way?”

He was trying to bait her, but Talia was beyond his control. “You could have freed yourself if you regretted what you did, but you never have. I certainly had a hand in this, but the results are entirely your fault. You won’t see me again, Prince Archer. Good-bye.”

* * *

Three days later, she got a letter from James that Archer had finally died. She stood, perfectly composed, and carried the news to Aurora. She held her daughter as she wept for the father she never knew and the life she imagined they might have had. Talia let them keep that image of him. 

In her room that night, Talia shed her last tears as Deirdre sat with her. The fairy silently offered her a chance to forget, but she refused. When the sun rose she was ready to face the world, having finally banished the specters of her past.


End file.
